Big powers accept Iran offer of nuke talks – EU's Ashton

2012-03-06

Six world powers have accepted an Iranian offer for talks on its disputed nuclear programme, the European Union’s top diplomat said on Tuesday, after a year’s standstill that has increased fears of a slide into a new Middle East war.

The announcement by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton came shortly after Russia called for a resumption of face-to-face dialogue as soon as possible, saying an Iranian letter last month showed it was now ready for serious negotiations.

With Israel speaking increasingly loudly of resorting to military action, the talks could provide some respite in a crisis which has driven up oil prices and threatened to suck the United States into its third major war in a decade.

Syria faces outrage; 'smell of death' in Homs

2012-03-06

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad faced growing Western anger on Tuesday for preventing aid from entering a devastated district of Homs and over accusations of human rights abuses, including pictures said to show torture victims at a hospital in the city.

Dozens of men, women and children returned on foot to Baba Amr, passing bullet-pocked and damaged buildings, days after rebel fighters pulled out after a sustained and heavy military assault. The Red Cross was awaiting approval to distribute aid to the devastated district which endured a month of siege.

Residents who fled the district spoke of bodies decomposing under rubble, sewage mixing with litter in the streets, and a campaign of arrests and executions.

Criminal probe into prison rape

2012-03-06

 

AUTHORITIES have ordered two investigations into the alleged rape of a young prisoner, it emerged yesterday, as deputy prison governor Giorgos Tryfonides claimed there was a conspiracy afoot for his removal.

Justice Minister Loucas Louca has ordered the immediate launch of a criminal investigation by the police, while a state attorney Antonis Vasiliades has been tasked with looking into possible disciplinary offences.

“It is a very serious matter, which also needs very serious handling and investigation,” Louca said.

The minister added that he has asked the chief of police for an “immediate and swift” investigation into the matter.

Menil frescoes due home within days

2012-03-06

AFTER MORE than two decades on loan to Houston’s Menil Collection art museum, two 13th-century Byzantine frescoes are finally going home to Cyprus.

The frescoes — described by Menil Director Josef Helfenstein as “beyond rare” — came to Houston in 1988 and were housed in a consecrated chapel specially built for them on the Menil campus in 1997. The frescoes are now scheduled to return to Cyprus this coming Thursday, and Andrew Schofer, the Chargé d’Affaires at the American Embassy, could not be more pleased.

Nicosia residents warned to spare water this week

2012-03-06

NICOSIA residents are being warned to be frugal with their water usage, as supply will be interrupted until Thursday due to works on the Tersefanou water pipe.

Furthermore, the capital’s state primary schools will have no water, so parents are being told make sure their children bring their own bottles.

The head of the Nicosia Water Board, Nicos Zambakides, yesterday also announced that water hikes were expected before the summer.

“The works are expected to take around two days to complete,” said Zambakides. “So as a precaution, we are calling on consumers to be a bit frugal for the next 72 hours. But we hope that the works will be complete sooner.”

China eyes Cyprus LNG plant

2012-03-06

CHINA’S third largest national oil company, CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Corporation) has presented to Cyprus its plans for the construction of an LNG plant here to process and export the now confirmed offshore hydrocarbon reserves.

A senior delegation from CNOOC met last Friday with the ad hoc ministerial committee handling energy issues, “to present their views on how to proceed with an LNG terminal here,” said Commerce Minister Praxoulla Antoniadou.

“The company had asked us for the meeting, and of course we said yes, as we are currently examining all scenarios,” Antoniadou told the Mail.

Bagis comments ‘insulting’ to Greek and Turkish Cypriots

2012-03-06

COMMENTS by Turkey’s European Affairs Minister Egemen Bagis that Ankara would consider annexing the north if peace talks failed, were “cynical, arrogant and provocative”, government s spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said yesterday.

“They are also insulting for the Turkish Cypriot community,” said Stefanou. “These statements reveal that Turkey’s negative stance on the Cyprus problem promotes the goal of partition and creating two separate states in Cyprus.”

He added that Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu hds made similar comments recently. 

Stefanou argued partition and annexation go against UN resolutions and called on the international community to put pressure on Turkey to respect UN resolutions on Cyprus. 

Protest over changes at Kofinou abattoir

2012-03-06

BUTCHERS and drovers yesterday cut off access to the Kofinou abattoir to protest against the management’s decision to lay off 28 employees and alter procedures.

The work stoppage began at 9am for two hours, with strikers refusing to allow anyone entry to the abattoir, to either transport animals for slaughter or to take meat.

“The central Kofinou abattoir has decided to make 28 people redundant,” farmer Andreas Zachariou said. “Following this development, the Abattoir’s management has prepared a new slaughter programme and new prices for the different slaughtered animals, which isn’t convenient, neither for the drovers, the butchers nor the distributors.”

Jobless toll nears 33,000

2012-03-06

UNEMPLOYMENT increased again in February for the seventh month in a row, the Statistical Services announced yesterday.

According to the Services, the number of unemployed people reached 37,874 last month – before seasonal adjustments – breaking a new record.

“Based on data corrected for seasonal fluctuations that show unemployment trends, the number of registered unemployed people in February 2012 increased to 32,827 persons, compared to 32,247 the previous month,” it said.

Of those, 68 per cent are Greek Cypriots, 25 per cent European and 7.0 per cent Turkish Cypriots as well as third country nationals.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.